Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero[a] ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho[2]) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title Ke Aliʻi o ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻAina of the Kingdom of Hawaii from January 11, 1855, to November 30, 1863.

Alexander had three older brothers, David Kamehameha, Moses Kekūāiwa and Lot Kapuāiwa, and a younger sister, Victoria Kamāmalu.

[3] A diplomatic mission was planned following Admiral de Tromelin's 1849 attack on the fort of Honolulu, the result of French claims stemming back twenty years to the expulsion of Catholic missionaries.

Advisors to Kamehameha III thought it best that the heir apparent, Alexander, and his brother, Lot Kapuāiwa, would benefit from the mission and experience.

They toured Europe and met with various heads of state, aiming to secure recognition of Hawaii as an independent country.

the prince began the conversation by asking if we intended to make a long stay (in London) to which I answered by saying that we expected to leave in about a week and then Mr. Judd made a few remarks on his business.

Helen Kinau Wilder recalled in her memoirs:[11] In Geneva (New York), visiting friends, the butler was very averse to serving "blacks" as he called them, and revenged himself by putting bibs at their places.

Alexander unfolded his, saw the unusual shape, but as he had seen many strange things on his travels concluded that must be something new, so quietly fitted the place cut out for the neck to his waist.

[19]: 36 Only a year after assuming the throne, Alexander took the hand of Emma Rooke, whom he had met in childhood at the Chiefs' Children's School, as his queen.

[3] Queen Emma was the granddaughter of John Young, Kamehameha the Great's British royal advisor and companion.

Chief Justice Elisha Hunt Allen quickly slipped his own gold ring to the king and the ceremony continued.

[3] Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was Prince Albert's godmother (by proxy) at his christening in Honolulu.

[22] Alexander had heard a rumour that Neilson was having an affair with Queen Emma, and after drinking heavily shot his friend in the chest.

Kamehameha IV's father Kekūanaōʻa came in Scottish highland dress, music was provided by German musicians, and the food by a French chef.

[13] In 1860, Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma entertained a group of Japanese diplomats who were stopping in Honolulu on their way to Washington.

Their meeting with Kamehameha IV was noted by Vice-Ambassador Muragaki Norimasa (村垣範正) as the first presentation of Japanese ambassadors to a foreign king, although Japan and Hawaii had no formal relation at this point.

[27] At the time of Alexander's assumption to the throne, the American population in the Hawaiian islands continued to grow and exert economic and political pressure in the Kingdom.

[3] Alexander worried that the United States of America would make a move to conquer his nation; an annexation treaty was proposed in Kamehameha III's reign.

He was not successful, as sugar plantation owners in the southern United States lobbied heavily against the treaty, worried that competition from Hawaii would harm their industries.

[citation needed] In 1862, as part of his atonement for shooting his secretary and friend Neilson, he translated the Book of Common Prayer into the Hawaiian language.

Alexander and Queen Emma responded to the legislature's refusal by lobbying local businessmen, merchants and wealthy residents to fund their healthcare agenda.

The fundraising efforts also yielded separate funds for the development of a leprosy treatment facility built on the island of Maui.

[30] Alexander died of chronic asthma on November 30, 1863, and was succeeded by his brother, who took the name Kamehameha V.[31] At his funeral, eight hundred children and teachers walked to say goodbye.

With the end of the Kamehameha dynasty and King William C. Lunalilo dying without an heir of his own, Queen Emma ran unsuccessfully to become the Kingdom's ruling monarch.

[33] The Feast of the Holy Sovereigns is celebrated annually in the Episcopal Church in Hawaii on November 28, honoring Kamehameha IV and Emma.